Doctor Feng hurriedly led the three of them to collect medical supplies while muttering to himself as they walked.
“If I’d known there was another mission coming, I would’ve let you all rest earlier. How can anyone handle working nonstop like this? Sigh! I even offered to go myself, but they said I was too old…”
“Captain Feng, I think you’ve misunderstood something,” Song Ning said.
“Misunderstood? What have I misunderstood?” Doctor Feng asked in surprise, curiosity written all over his face.
“They might not think you’re too old. They might just think you’re… a little too sturdy.”
Song Ning glanced teasingly at Doctor Feng’s round figure.
Standing beside her, Zheng Chang’an delivered the finishing blow.
“Think about it, Captain Feng. If you couldn’t make it up the mountain, the soldiers couldn’t exactly leave you behind. They’d have to carry you too.”
Doctor Feng glared at them.
“You little brats! It’s one thing to call me old, but now you’re indirectly calling me fat too?”
Everyone burst out laughing, and the atmosphere immediately became much lighter.
Battalion Commander Zhao’s concerns proved to be well-founded.
Not long after they left Gaoping, the young doctor surnamed Wu slipped on the muddy path in the darkness.
He injured himself and even broke one of the arms of his glasses.
Though he was young and appeared physically fit, the rugged mountain roads made treacherous by the rain were still too much for him.
Battalion Commander Zhao had no choice but to order one of the soldiers to redistribute the supplies he was carrying among the others before escorting Doctor Wu back down the mountain.
Another doctor would be sent after daylight.
Song Ning turned to Zheng Chang’an.
“Watch your footing.”
Zheng Chang’an had already fallen several times himself.
Hearing her reminder, he silently tightened his shoelaces.
As they crossed another mountain ridge, the team passed a military outpost.
Several sturdy tents stood in place, illuminated from within by bright lights. The roar of engines echoed from inside.
Battalion Commander Zhao exchanged a few brief words with the personnel stationed there.
Listening from behind, Song Ning gathered that this was a communications unit outpost equipped with diesel generators and radio equipment, responsible for maintaining emergency power and communications.
It sounded as though the injured company commander they had heard about earlier had been hurt while moving equipment.
The mountain roads were a muddy nightmare.
Every step required effort.
After Doctor Wu turned back, the bag of medicine that had originally been carried by Zheng Chang’an was soon transferred to Song Ning.
Thanks to the physical training she had undergone since childhood, she possessed excellent stamina.
Although she was breathing heavily from exhaustion, she could still keep going.
Especially when they reached destroyed sections of the trail where they had to use ropes to climb cliff faces, Song Ning managed everything on her own.
The soldiers couldn’t help looking at her with newfound admiration.
Zheng Chang’an, meanwhile, needed assistance from the soldiers to get through some of the more difficult sections, though thankfully he wasn’t slowing the team down elsewhere.
By the time dawn began to break, the group finally arrived at Yanjiao Village.
The scene before them, however, was even worse than they had imagined.
The mudslide had occurred only recently.
Because so many homes had been buried, the soldiers who arrived ahead of them had already gathered the villagers in an open area far from the mountainside and on higher ground.
Even residents whose houses remained intact had been evacuated.
Although the rain had weakened, no one could rule out the possibility of another mudslide.
The villagers huddled together in the open air, shivering from the cold.
Many had used their only rain capes and plastic sheets to shelter children and the elderly, but such meager protection could hardly withstand the damp chill of the night.
At a glance, the crowd stretched out in a vast dark mass.
Silent.
And heartbreaking.
The moment Battalion Commander Zhao arrived, he immediately ordered tents to be erected.
The supplies the soldiers carried were precisely what was needed most urgently.
Looking at Zheng Chang’an, who seemed ready to collapse into a puddle of mud, Song Ning said,
“You get five minutes to rest. Then we’re starting work immediately.”
This time, Zheng Chang’an witnessed an even more decisive side of Song Ning.
She first contacted the village chief and had him announce the arrival of doctors.
Then she reassured everyone that treatment would be available for all, provided they lined up in an orderly fashion.
After that, she conducted rapid preliminary examinations and categorized patients according to severity.
Those with minor ailments were organized efficiently and given medication.
Serious cases were treated according to urgency.
She even accurately identified two capable, steady-handed village women to assist her.
Faced with such an overwhelming mess, she seemed able to instantly identify the key point of attack.
Despite having only two medical workers, she managed to bring order and control to the entire treatment effort.
Throughout the rescue process, her judgments were precise.
Her movements were quick and efficient.
Every gesture radiated confidence and calm.
People naturally found themselves wanting to follow her instructions.
Zheng Chang’an worked frantically until his head felt ready to explode, yet he still found time to think to himself—
Little Song wasn’t just like a doctor.
She was more like a leader.
The kind who managed a lot of people.
Just as the medical relief efforts were progressing at full speed, a young soldier came running over in a panic.
“Doctor! Where’s the doctor?”
The moment he spotted Song Ning and Zheng Chang’an in their white coats, he hurried over.
“Quick! Someone over there needs emergency treatment!”
Song Ning exchanged a glance with Zheng Chang’an before grabbing the emergency medical kit.
“I’ll go.”
Zheng Chang’an didn’t argue.
He knew very well that Song Ning’s medical skills far surpassed his own.
In an emergency, she would be far more useful than he could ever be.
Watching her save lives back in Gaoping had completely opened his eyes.
After nearly two years of internship, he had never imagined traditional Chinese medicine could shine so brilliantly.
And the fact that acupuncture could be used alongside Western anesthetics—
That combination had seemed almost magical.
From that moment on, his admiration for Song Ning had reached new heights.
He had already decided that he wanted to become her student.
Taking her seat, he continued the work she had left behind.
The deeper they ran into the village, the more houses they saw buried beneath mud and debris.
They also encountered more and more soldiers still conducting rescue operations in the rain.
The young soldier led Song Ning across most of the village.
Ahead, a concentrated cluster of lights and people came into view.
When she saw the scene before her, Song Ning couldn’t help gasping.
Because of the rain, daylight had yet to fully arrive.
Beside a row of houses destroyed by the mudslide stood several People’s Liberation Army soldiers.
Lanterns and powerful flashlights on the bank were all focused toward the center of the mudslide.
And there—
Trapped in the middle of the mud—
Was a child.
Between the shore and the child, rescuers had laid burlap sacks, bamboo mats, wooden planks, and every other material they could find.
A soldier with a rope tied around his waist was cautiously trying to cross them and reach the child.
The problem was that the child was at least a dozen meters from the bank.
Though the mud currently appeared stable, it simply couldn’t support the weight of a grown adult.
When the soldier sank into the mud once again, the people on shore quickly pulled him back with great effort.
Another rescue attempt had failed.
At the same time, a fresh wave of cries erupted from the bank.
“Tiedan! My Tiedan! Hold on, child!”
Only then did Song Ning notice several villagers nearby.
They were evidently the child’s family.
The one sitting on the ground and crying was an elderly grandmother.
Supporting her was an elderly grandfather whose pant leg was soaked with blood.
All of them stared at the child trapped in the mud, their faces filled with despair and grief.
Song Ning rushed over and immediately began bandaging the old man’s wound.
“Song Ning! Is that Song Ning?!”
Someone called out to her.
Song Ning turned around and saw a figure running toward them.
Amid the fine curtain of rain stood a tall man with long legs and a steady stride.
He wore a raincoat and carried a sandbag over his shoulder.
Behind him followed a squad of soldiers, every one of them carrying supplies.
The closer he came, the more familiar he seemed.
Song Ning looked carefully.
Gu Zheng?!
Was that Gu Zheng?
At that very moment—
Someone nearby suddenly shouted:
“The child! The child isn’t going to make it!”